‘Not your normal style, I’m afraid,’ she said. ‘Is this a chance meeting?’
‘I never leave anything to chance,’ he said simply. ‘I got your address from the hotel, who had it for sending on your mail. I went to your home first.’
‘Really!’ she said wryly, trying to picture him looking at the shabby little hotel. ‘What did you think of it?’
‘I can’t imagine what you’re doing there.’
‘It’s all I can afford. I keep getting bills that Ben should have settled, and I have to work to pay them.’
‘You need to escape.’
‘So I will when I’ve sold the apartment.’
‘How is that going?’
She eyed him cynically, her lips twitching.
‘This is the man who just told me he never leaves anything to chance. It would be easy for you to find out that it’s still on the market.’
‘You’re right. I really meant-why is it still for sale?’
She sighed. ‘You tell me. Everyone says it’s in a desirable location, but either people don’t offer, or they do but it falls through.’
‘Well, you know my advice. Come and sell it yourself. Make it look like a home.’
‘That’s what the agent said.’
‘And he knows his business. You should heed him.’
‘Maybe I should,’ she said with a brief laugh. ‘I’m probably out of a job.’
He grinned. ‘Good. We leave tomorrow.’
‘Not so fast-’
‘What’s to keep you here?’
Vincente’s words brought the truth home to her starkly. There was nothing for her here any longer.
‘All right,’ she said softly. ‘I’ll come.’
‘Excellent. Where shall we dine tonight?’
‘I’m staying at home. I have loose ends to tie up. I’ll be waiting for you tomorrow morning.’
He gave her a curious look.
‘Will you? Or will I arrive to find that you’ve slipped away like a phantom?’
But it was he who’d slipped away like a phantom last time; she nearly said so, but checked herself. That would be admitting that she minded, conceding a point, which her instincts warned her not to do. He was handsome, charming and more dangerous than ever.
‘If I say I’ll be there, I’ll be there.’
She spoke in a cool tone that set him at a distance. She felt safer that way, especially now that she knew she was doing what he had always meant her to do. Just as everyone did.
He walked back to the hotel with her, where they were met by Elise’s boss, who’d been sitting there in a fury.
‘Ivor told me how you’ve been throwing yourself at him,’ she seethed. ‘What have you got to say for yourself?’
‘Well, “goodbye” is a nice word,’ Elise said. ‘Especially if you say it to Ivor. Here’s the key of the shop. But give him the boot, Jane. You can do better than Ivor. In fact, anybody can do better than Ivor.’
Jane scowled and walked out.
‘Splendid!’ Vincente said. ‘That’s the last of your old life.’
‘Until I come back and start a new one,’ she reminded him. ‘Goodnight, I’ll see you tomorrow. What about the flights?’
‘I’ll take care of them.’
‘Well, what time is take-off?’
‘Just be ready.’
Vincente was there the next morning at nine o’clock, to find the desk manned by a bored-looking lad.
‘Please inform Mrs Carlton that I’m here,’ Vincente said.
The lad lifted the phone, called the room and said, ‘Hello, Vi. Is Mrs Carlton there…? It’s a bit early for her to have left, isn’t it? Oh, checked out last night. OK.’
‘Where is she?’ Vincente demanded sharply as the boy replaced the receiver.
‘Gone. That was the cleaner, getting the place ready for the next person.’
Vincente’s face was dark. ‘But where has she gone?’
‘Dunno. I’ve only just come on duty. She must have been in a rush to get away though, to have left so early.’
With a sense of shock, Vincente realised that the worst had happened. He’d made the foolish mistake of trusting her and she’d given him the slip. As he turned towards the door his face was very ugly.
‘Ah, here you are!’
Lost in his furious thoughts, he almost didn’t hear the words or see the young woman who had just come in from the street. Then the black haze cleared and he grasped her wrist.
‘Where the devil have you been?’ he snapped.
‘I beg your pardon?’
Her outrage startled him and he let his hand fall.
‘Don’t ever speak to me like that again,’ she said softly. ‘I’m not accountable to you for my movements.’
‘They said you’d checked out.’
‘I did. I paid my bill last night to speed things up this morning. Today I cleared out of the room and put my bags in the downstairs cloakroom. I just slipped out for half an hour to say goodbye to someone.’
Too late it dawned on him that she was talking about her father. He wanted to ask her about him, but controlled himself. Everything must wait until he’d got her to Italy. Then, and only then, could he be sure of arranging matters to suit himself.
And she wouldn’t be able to stop him. On that he was determined. He had waited too long for this to weaken now.
‘I thought you’d gone,’ he said harshly.
‘I told you I’d be here, and I’m here. Why are you acting as though it was the end of the world?’
He forced a smile. ‘If it seems that way I apologise. I have a strict sense of time.’
‘Then let’s stop wasting it and go,’ she said lightly.
Vincente’s chauffeur fetched her bags from the cloakroom and put them in the boot of the waiting car.
‘Only two bags?’ Vincente queried as they headed for the airport. ‘I thought you’d have more.’
‘You mean what about my wardrobes full of fancy clothes? I sold them for whatever I could get.’
‘Money has really been as tight as that?’
‘Yes, but that’s not the only reason. I didn’t want memories of my marriage. It’s as though I’m a different person, and I like it.’
‘You like living in that place?’
‘It’s peaceful,’ she said unexpectedly.
‘But doesn’t poverty come a little hard on you?’
‘I can pay for my air ticket,’ she said defensively.
‘There’ll be no need for that. I have my own plane.’
Of course! She should have thought of that.
The twin turbojet aircraft was waiting for them, engines running. Inside, it was more like a luxury hotel than a plane. The seats had safety belts, but in all else they were plush armchairs, upholstered in pale grey velvet. After take-off, a steward appeared from the well-appointed kitchen, bearing champagne, and contriving to give her a curious look without being too obvious. Amused, Elise wondered how many women had been invited on to Vincente’s plane, and how she compared to the others.
They clinked glasses.
‘To your new life,’ he said. ‘And your new freedom.’
‘Why do you say it like that?’ she wanted to know.
‘Like what?’
‘Freedom-you said it strangely, as though it had another meaning.’
‘But of course it does. Freedom means something different to everyone. Only you know what it means to yourself, but I think you’ll find that Rome is full of many things that you’d never thought of.’
Still she thought she could catch the echo of another meaning, but when she looked at his face his smile was like a mask.
At the airport in Rome a limousine was waiting to take them into the city. As they reached the outskirts, Elise began to watch for the places she’d known so long ago. It was easy because the car passed through Trastevere, the least expensive, most colourful part of the city. Here, she and Angelo had lived together in joy. Here, he’d seen her in Ben’s arms, and had died.
‘What is it?’ Vincente asked, looking at her with concern.
‘Nothing,’ she said quickly.
‘You closed your eyes, as if something had hurt you.’
‘Just a headache. I didn’t sleep last night.’ That was true.
‘Not much longer until you can take possession of your new home and rest.’
Soon they were in the beautiful Via Vittorio Veneto, a wide, tree-lined avenue where the luxury apartments could sell for millions. Elise had already gulped over the price Ben had paid, but when she saw it she had to admit that the reality was worth every euro.
The rooms were large, with high ceilings and tall windows. There were three bedrooms, including a master bedroom with an eight foot wide bed and its own bathroom in addition to the main bathroom. The floors were marble, the furniture largely antique, with much inlaid wood in designs of flowers and animals. The windows were hung with velvet and satin curtains.
Everywhere she looked she saw lavishness and costly beauty. She noticed too that the curtains, carpets and marble floors were fresh and brilliant, as though recently cleaned. Nor was there a speck of dust in the place.
‘The agent has maintained it beautifully,’ she observed.
‘I must admit that was my doing,’ Vincente said. ‘I sent in an army of cleaners.’
‘Would it be rude of me to ask how you got the keys to my property?’
‘It would certainly be ungrateful.’
She smiled. ‘Of course the agent just did as you told him. Knowing you as I do, I should have assumed that.’
‘Do you know me so well?’ he asked lightly.
‘You mean after one brief encounter months ago?’
‘Sometimes that’s all it takes.’
‘Don’t tell me you didn’t size me up as well. I’m just not sure why, unless-?’
‘Unless?’ he asked tensely.
‘I think you size up everyone you meet. There’s always a part of you standing back, calculating.’
‘I can’t help it. It’s the businessman in me.’
‘Maybe.’
‘Which means that you’re still sizing me up.’
‘Could be,’ she said, looking him in the eye.
‘How am I doing so far? Do I find favour?’
‘Not entirely,’ she said after a moment.
Elise had the feeling she’d caught him off-guard and was glad. This man wasn’t used to being judged and found wanting.
‘You dislike me?’ he asked lightly.
‘There’s a lot to like but-let’s just say that I’m not entirely convinced. I think you have a secret agenda.’
‘I always do,’ he said quickly. ‘I told you it’s part of my nature.’
‘But I wonder what it is with me?’
‘Perhaps merely a desire to get to know you better.’
‘Is that all?’
‘If I said it was, would you believe me? Let’s not play games. I want to know you better, for many reasons. And some of them you understand as well as I do. We’re not children.’
She met his eyes and saw in them a direct attack that hadn’t been there before. It both startled and excited her and she couldn’t answer.
When he realised he’d silenced her he changed tack, speaking smoothly, easily, as though to put her at her ease.
‘I’m not quite the calculating monster you think. I had this place cleaned because I wanted you to feel welcome here.’
‘Thank you. I didn’t mean to sound ungrateful. I don’t know how long I’ll be here, but I’ll make the most of it while I am.’
‘Good, then tonight you must let me entertain you.’
‘Another nightclub?’
‘No, we’ll eat here.’
‘But I don’t know my way around that kitchen yet,’ she protested.
‘Leave everything to me.’
‘You cook as well?’
‘Wait and see. I’ll leave you to get settled in, and be back this evening.’
When Vincente had gone she wandered slowly through the apartment, trying to believe that this was the place Ben had bought. Even for him, this grandiose, overblown residence shrieked self-delusion.
Suddenly she no longer knew exactly who she was.
She felt even more strange when she opened her cases and removed what few possessions she had left. They looked inadequate in this splendid setting.
Vincente had spoken of a new life, a new freedom, but it was hard to feel that she belonged here.
Elise yawned, remembering that she’d had no sleep the previous night. Instead she’d lain awake, wondering at the step she was about to take. She’d meant to be so resolute, but when she’d seen Vincente again she’d known in a moment that he could set her determination at nothing.
She’d slipped out in the early hours to pay one last visit to her father’s grave and returned to find Vincente there, tense and surly. She’d responded in the same vein and so their new relationship had gotten off to a craggy start.
Which might be best.
She got under the shower and stood, relishing the water splashing over her, washing away her old life and bringing her, bright and new, into whatever lay ahead.
One wall of the shower was a mirror and she used it to study herself critically. How far away now seemed the girl who’d gone to Rome and fallen passionately in love with a young Italian, then abandoned him to his death. That girl had been slightly plump, with a pretty, innocent, unworldly face.
Now her face was slimmer and more beautiful, her eyes seeming larger by contrast, her full mouth haunted by irony. Her body too had lost weight, perhaps a little too much, or perhaps she was merely honed to perfection, slender in the waist, but with a generous bosom. Any man would say this was a woman created for love. Which was ironic, considering her loveless life.
Then she heard his voice again.
I want to know you better, for many reasons. And some of them you understand as well as I do. We’re not children.
From the start there’d been a mysterious link between them. Now he’d gone to the heart of it, astonishing her with a direct attack.
You understand as well as I do.
Elise understood perfectly. He was forcing her to face the sexual attraction that had flared between them, warning her that his patience was running out and she must soon make a decision. It was high-handed, but instead of antagonising her it caused a sense of exhilaration to stream through her.
Now it made her look again at her own body, seeing it with his eyes. Would a man want that smooth creamy skin, those long legs, rounded behind and generous breasts? It was so long since she’d asked herself that question, but she knew by instinct that the answer was yes.
At least it was yes if she’d decided to make him want her. And, as she felt the sweet tremor of anticipation go through her, she knew she’d made that decision long ago.
Elise dried herself and slipped between the smooth sheets of the grandiose master bed. It was blissful to revel in such comfort, to relax and let sleep drift over her.
For hours she lay without moving, letting herself be submerged in her new life, not fighting it now. There were battles ahead and she must summon all her strength to make sure that she was the winner.
When she awoke Vincente was sitting on the bed, watching her.